The Girl From Number 22

by Joan Jonker

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you tonight,’ Bella drawled, a cigarette dangling from the side of her mouth. ‘Got the money, have yer?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got sixpence.’

  She turned away. ‘Same as yer did yesterday. Walk behind me, turn into the entry and then into me back yard.’

  As Tom turned into the back entry, he could feel his passion growing. His appetite for sex was insatiable. He only had to look at an attractive woman, and in his mind he stripped her of her clothing and let his imagination run away with him. He’d had many dark looks thrown at him by men who were parading a pretty woman on their arm, and caught him staring.

  The yard door opened before his hand had reached the latch, and Bella’s low voice told him to get in sharpish. ‘They’re a nosy lot of biddies round here, and the less they know of my business the better.’ She wasted no time in shoving him into the lavatory, then squeezed in herself and closed the door. Then she held out her hand. ‘Sixpence, before I lay a finger on yer.’ Time was money, and he was only a punter to her. So she was abrupt and straight to the point. ‘Same as yesterday, undo yer trousers.’

  Tom was so eager, he would have crawled if she’d told him to. But she didn’t. Instead she did the job she was good at, and had him groaning with pleasure. When his cries became louder, she put a hand over his mouth so her next-door neighbour wouldn’t hear. When his time was up, he was shaking like a leaf. His heart was thumping so hard he thought it would burst out of his chest. Bella left the lavatory while he made himself respectable, and when he came out, she asked, ‘Was this visit instead of tomorrow?’

  He was quick to answer, for all he could think of, while at work or lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, was Bella attending to his needs in her house. ‘Oh, no, I’ll be here tomorrow all right. Six thirty, like we said.’ Then he couldn’t resist confirming, ‘It will be inside yer house, won’t it?’

  She nodded, then made sure he remembered, ‘Yes, and it’ll be a shilling.’ She opened the yard door and peered into the entry. ‘It’s all clear, so scarper. And make sure ye’re not late tomorrow. Saturday’s a busy night for me.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that, I’ll be on time.’ As he walked down the entry and into the main road, Tom Phillips was a very happy, satisfied man. And he had great hopes that tomorrow would be better still. It would be warm in her house, there’d be more room, and he’d be able to watch Bella at work. It was a much better way of spending his money than going to the pub. He reached the tram stop and lit a cigarette. There’d be a tram along any minute, but as he drew on his cigarette, he let his fantasies run wild. He couldn’t afford to call in the pub tomorrow before going to Bella’s, but he’d have to try it some time. Next week, perhaps, when he drew his overtime money. Two pints of beer to increase his desire, and an hour with a woman who could fulfil his every dream.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  There was silence round the breakfast table in the Phillips house on the Saturday morning. It was an uneasy silence, charged with suspense. And the ticking of the clock made the scene seem like something from a drama movie. Tom ate his breakfast and drank his two cups of tea without raising his head to look at anyone, while Jenny and Ben watched with bated breath out of the corner of their eyes. They were afraid to speak, or move, in case their words or actions broke the spell and caused their father to revert back to his bad-tempered self. They feared he was biding his time, just waiting for a sound or look that would spark off his temper. But there were no sneers, nor lashing out of fists, as Annie put the plate of toast down in front of him and poured out his tea. He didn’t even look at her. The atmosphere was so strange, the silence so eerie, she was glad when he’d finished his breakfast and scraped back his chair.

  Tom could feel the tension in the room, and it made him feel good. Let them wonder why he was acting out of character, he didn’t care. He could still lash out at them any time he liked, so he’d keep them on pins. It just so happened that he hadn’t felt the need for confrontation last night, and he didn’t this morning. His life had taken a turn for the better now he’d met Bella; he didn’t need his wife in his bed any more. But he still got satisfaction from knowing she and the kids were afraid of him, and that’s the way things would stay.

  Although he could feel three pair of eyes boring into him, Tom made his way to the hall without looking back. He took his donkey jacket down from the hook and slipped his arms into the sleeves. It was as he was opening the door that he called back, ‘I’m working all day today, so I won’t be home until half eight or nine o’clock.’

  Annie moved swiftly, and she caught her husband as he was stepping down on to the pavement. ‘Yer’d better bring some chips in with yer then, ’cos I can’t keep a dinner until that time of night. And me and the kids are going out.’

  Tom Phillips walked away as though he hadn’t heard, leaving Annie to shut the door tutting and shaking her head. Jenny and Ben were waiting for her, and were soon talking fifteen to the dozen to get what they wanted to say out of their system before they went to work.

  ‘I don’t know what yer said to me dad the other night, Mam,’ Ben said, ‘but it certainly seems to have changed him. Two nights running he’s gone to bed early, and no beer. I didn’t think anyone could change so quickly.’

  ‘He hasn’t changed,’ Jenny said, ‘he just wants us to think so. He’s playing cat and mouse with us, it’s sticking out a mile.’ She shivered inwardly as she remembered her father’s hands mauling her. Oh, how she hated him. ‘He’s rotten through and through. Always has been, and always will be.’

  ‘We haven’t got much time to discuss it now, sweetheart,’ Annie said. ‘You and Ben will have to be on yer way in a few minutes. So let’s just leave things and see what happens. But first, can I just say that I’m going to live me life as I want to from now on, and to hell with yer father. I’m starting work on Monday, as yer know, and I intend to get as much pleasure out of life as I can. Just to make up for the last twenty years. At least I’ll be meeting people when I’m in the shop, and I’m going to be pleasant and friendly, so I’ll be kept on after me trial period.’

  ‘Yer told me dad we were all going out,’ Jenny reminded her. ‘Were yer only saying that, or are yer going over to Mrs Fenwick’s for a game of cards?’

  Annie shook her head. ‘I meant what I said.’ She turned to her son. ‘I’ll take yer to the pictures if yer feel like it? But if yer’ve made arrangements to go to yer mate’s, I won’t mind. I’ll go to the pictures on me own.’

  Ben’s face lit up. ‘Can we go to the Astoria? James Cagney’s on there.’

  ‘If that’s what you want, sweetheart, then the Astoria it is. Ada did say I could go over for a game of cards, but I told her I’d take me son out for a change.’

  ‘Will it be all right if I go to a dance with me mates from work, then?’ Jenny asked. ‘I could meet up with them outside the Grafton.’

  Annie tried to sound as though she wasn’t really interested, just curious. ‘So ye’re not going to the dance with Danny, then?’

  ‘No, Mam, I’d rather go with me mates from work. I don’t want to tag on to Danny all the time, it wouldn’t be fair. He’s got stacks of girlfriends in Blair Hall, he doesn’t want me hanging on all the time, spoiling things for him.’

  ‘I understand, sweetheart, and I want you and Ben to do yer own things in future. Yer don’t have to worry about leaving me alone with yer father. He doesn’t frighten me any more. In fact, I feel sorry for him. He doesn’t know what it is to have a happy, loving family life. But that’s his loss, not ours. So you and Ben cut yerselves free from him, and get out and enjoy the good things in life.’

  Jenny looked thoughtful as she chewed on a piece of toast. ‘Mam, yer’ll still be friends with Mrs Fenwick, won’t yer?’

  ‘Of course I will, sweetheart, the very best of friends. The change in our fortunes is down to Ada, and Hetty. Especially Ada, who is uncanny. Everything has turned out as she said it would. If she h
adn’t talked me into sticking up for meself with yer father, I’d still be running around after him like a scalded cat. Oh, yeah, Ada has been one really good mate. And next door either side, Jean and Edith, I can’t leave them out, they’ve been smashing. I’m not as close to them as I am to those over the road, but good friends none the less. It’s their husbands who can take the credit for stopping yer father in his tracks, and I’ll always be beholden to them for that. I’ve made a promise with meself that after Christmas, when this room has been decorated, I’ll invite all me friends and neighbours in for a drink. As a way of thanking them, like, for being there when we needed them.’

  ‘That would be nice, Mam,’ Jenny said, ‘very thoughtful of yer.’

  Ben was grinning from ear to ear. What a change there’d been in his life in the last few days. ‘When ye’re swanking with yer posh room, Mam, can I bring my mates round? I’m always at their houses, and they must wonder why I never invite them here.’

  Annie raised her brows. ‘Before I commit meself, just how many mates are yer talking about? Two or twenty-two?’

  ‘Only two, Mam. Spud Murphy and Joey Williams.’

  ‘Oh, that’s all right, then. I’ll invite them round for tea one Sunday, but not for a few weeks, so don’t mention it to them yet.’ Annie glanced at the clock. ‘You two should have been out of this house five minutes ago. So get yer skates on, or yer’ll be late clocking on. I’ll wash the dishes and give this room a quick flick with the duster, then I’m going to Ada’s to give her the latest report. She was the one who gave me a kick up the backside, and she deserves to be kept up to date with the goings-on of the mighty Tom Phillips.’ She walked to the door with her children and waved them off. Then she went back into the living room feeling lighter in her heart than she had for years. And as she worked, she hummed a lilting melody she remembered hearing on her mother’s knee.

  Ada was near her front window when she saw Annie closing her front door. She smiled when she saw how her neighbour crossed the cobbles with her head held high and a spring in her step. It would appear events were taking a turn for the better in Eliza’s old house. The old lady would have been sad if she’d known of the heartache suffered in the house she’d lived in nearly all her life. They hadn’t seen her since the day she left, because the weather had been bad, but she had written to them, and in her letter she’d sounded happy and settled in with her son and his family. And she’d promised to come and see them when the weather was kinder. With a bit of luck, Annie would have decorated by then, and the old lady would have no cause for sadness.

  Before opening the front door to Annie, Ada knocked on the wall to let her mate next door know it was time for a cup of tea and a natter. ‘Yer look on top of the world this morning, sunshine.’ Ada held the door wide. ‘Yer crossed that road like a spring chicken.’ She followed her neighbour into the living room, leaving the front door ajar. ‘I’ve knocked for Hetty, she’ll be here in a few minutes.’

  ‘Never mind a few minutes, I’m here now.’ Hetty breezed in wearing a smile as big as a week. ‘I came as soon as I heard the knock, so yer wouldn’t have time to pull me to pieces behind me back.’

  ‘When have I ever pulled yer to pieces, sunshine?’ Ada asked, putting a hurt expression on her face. ‘I’m cut to the quick that me very best mate can think that of me. Me, what has a mind as pure as the driven snow.’

  Hetty pulled a chair out and plonked herself down. ‘What about the time I walked in the butcher’s when yer weren’t expecting me, and I heard yer telling him about “that cat what lives next door to me”. Now I’m sure Annie will agree that they are not the words of a so-called good friend what has a heart as pure as the driven snow.’

  Annie waved a hand. ‘Ooh, leave me out of it, sweetheart. I’m just getting me own life sorted out, I don’t want to get involved in any more upset.’

  Her elbow on the table and her head in her hand, Ada was shaking with laughter. ‘Oh dear, oh dear! Before yer start getting upset, Annie, I’ll let Hetty tell yer the tale about the cat next door. Go on, Hetty, the stage is yours.’

  ‘There’s not much to tell, really,’ Hetty said. ‘It did happen as I’ve just said, except I made a proper fool of meself. I walked in the shop just in time to hear Ada saying, “and that flaming cat what lives next door”. Well, I didn’t stop to think, I just took off, calling her all the sly articles I could lay me tongue to. That is until she put a hand over me mouth to shut me up, while she reminded me that the old lady on the other side of her had a cat which was a flaming nuisance. It used to sneak into everyone’s back kitchen and steal whatever food was there.’ Hetty was tittering as she relived the scene. ‘Thinking about it now, it was funny, except Ada got a cob on over it, and she gave me a dog’s life for days afterwards.’

  ‘I might have given you a dog’s life, sunshine, but the cat came off a damn sight worse. It got a kick up the backside, and it never ventured into me back kitchen again.’ Ada raised her brows at Annie. ‘I’d made a rice pudding that day, and left it on the draining board while I ran to the corner shop. I was only out five minutes, and got back to find the ruddy cat licking the top of the pudding. It flew when it saw me, otherwise I’d have strangled the ruddy thing with me bare hands.’

  ‘It’s funny that, but now I come to think of it,’ Annie said, ‘I’ve never seen a cat since I moved into the street.’

  ‘Oh, there’s plenty of cats around,’ Ada told her. ‘But there isn’t one next door now, thank God. Mrs Fields got so many complaints about it going into people’s houses and pinching food, she gave it to a woman in the next street who was plagued with mice. So the story had a happy ending, except for the mice.’ She sat back and folded her arms. ‘We’ve spent ten minutes talking about something that happened years ago. And I don’t want yer to think I don’t like cats, ’cos I wouldn’t really hurt any animal. And as I said, there was a happy ending to that story. I’m now wondering if your story has a happy ending, sunshine? Or has the queer feller gone back to being his charming self?’

  ‘He’s as docile as a lamb, sweetheart,’ Annie told her. ‘So quiet, I’m beginning to think he’s lost his tongue. In fact, me and the kids were uncomfortable and uneasy, for it was so unlike him. We expected him to kick off any time, but not one word crossed his lips all the way through breakfast. We were on pins, ’cos yer could have cut the silence with a knife. He ate his toast, drank two cups of tea, which I’d poured out for him, and left the table. Without a backward glance, he walked to the hall, took his coat down, and opened the front door. And then he spoke for the first time, to say he was working all day and wouldn’t be home until half eight or nine o’clock. I went to the door after him, and told him he’d better get some chips on the way home because there wouldn’t be a dinner for him at that time of night. And besides, me and the children were going out.’

  Hetty rolled her eyes. ‘Ooh, he wouldn’t like that! I bet he had something to say?’

  Annie shook her head. ‘Not a dickie bird. He just kept on walking as though he hadn’t heard. So it’s his own fault if he starves, I don’t give a damn any more.’

  Ada was quiet, taking it all in. Her brain was ticking over as she tried to fathom out Tom Phillips’s strange behaviour. The change in him was hard to understand, but she could think of one reason for the way he was acting. She would keep her thoughts to herself for the time being, though. Time would tell if she was right or wrong. ‘If he’s going to be late home, sunshine, yer know ye’re welcome to come over here for a game of cards. It would pass the time for yer, save sitting in the house on yer own. Unless the kids are staying in with yer?’

  ‘Thanks for asking, sweetheart, but I wasn’t lying when I told Tom Phillips me and the kids were going out. I’m taking Ben to the pictures, and Jenny is going out with some of the girls she works with. Not that the kids knew that until this morning. I lay in bed last night and made up me mind that there were going to be changes in the way we live. No longer am I going to let that
rotter of a husband run my life, or my children’s. And I was still of the same mind when I got out of bed. It hasn’t sunk in with Jenny or Ben, for Tom Phillips was the only way of life they knew. We are all going out tonight, and I’m determined that from now on me and the kids are going to be free to do as we please. I’ll keep me house clean, wash and cook as usual, but the rest of the time is me own.’

  ‘Have yer forgotten ye’re starting work on Monday, sunshine?’ Ada asked. ‘The mornings are not going to be free.’

  ‘I haven’t forgotten, Ada. I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t told Tom, and I don’t intend to. It’s only three shillings a week, but it’ll give me that little bit of independence. A few bob in me pocket means I can buy the paper and paint to have me room decorated. And when that’s done, I can buy meself some clothes. I’ve only got two dresses, as yer’ve probably noticed. I wear one while the other is being washed. Same with me underwear.’

  Ada was nodding in approval. ‘Good for you, sunshine, I’m really happy for yer. I’m sure Hetty will agree that yer look years younger now. That’s what confidence does for yer. And I might as well warn yer now that if I ever think ye’re slipping back into being a punch bag for Tom Phillips, then yer’ll get the length of me tongue.’

  ‘Ooh, yer wouldn’t like that, girl.’ Hetty’s eyes spoke volumes. ‘I’ve heard me mate giving someone the length of her tongue, and I can only tell yer that I was glad it wasn’t me at the receiving end.’

  Annie chuckled. ‘Hetty, sweetheart, if I ever go back to hiding behind curtains, then Ada has my permission to give me more than the length of her tongue. But it will never happen, for I’m determined that Jenny and Ben are going to enjoy the rest of their teenage years, like I did. It’s my fault they’ve had such a hard life so far, ’cos I’m the bloody fool who married Tom Phillips and gave them a father from hell. But I’ll make it up to them, I swear it.’